Inter, 13 home wins on the trot against Fiorentina
Fiorentina have not beaten the Nerazzurri in Milan since 7 May 2000, when they recorded a 0-4 league victory at the Meazza. Since then there have been 13 meetings between the sides in San Siro and Inter have won the lot, putting 28 goals past the Viola in the process. The last draw between these teams at the Meazza dates back to 16 November 1996 (2-2 in Serie A).
Nerazzurri hitting form
Roberto Mancini's men have run into a bit of form of late, stringing together four wins and a draw in their last five outings. They have also conceded a single goal in their last four home matches: Torino beat them 0-1 on 25 January, while Sampdoria (Coppa Italia), Palermo (Serie A) and Celtic (Europa League) all failed to breach the Nerazzurri backline.
Goals on both benches
Both Inter and Fiorentina can draw on their bench as a source of goals: each team has scored five times through substitutes this season, the same number as Hellas Verona and Chievo Verona. The Nerazzurri's goal-scoring subs are Guarin (2), Hernanes, Icardi and Osvaldo, while the Viola's are Babacar, El Hamdaoui, Ilicic, Kurtic and Salah.
Different routes to goal: hitman Icardi versus Fiorentina's team effort
Inter and Fiorentina have gone about the business of scoring goals in very different ways in 2014/15. Mauro Icardi is the standout marksman for the Nerazzurri, with 19 in all competitions (no one has plundered more in Italy this year), while Fiorentina have shared their goals around, getting 17 different names on the score sheet in 24 league matches (more than any other Serie A side).
Viola unbeaten in 11
Fiorentina are currently enjoying an unbeaten run that extends to 11 games. The Tuscan outfit have recorded seven victories and four draws since beginning the year with a 1-0 Serie A defeat at Parma (6 January).
Pizarro: 100 purple patches
David Pizarro is set to make his 100th appearance in a Viola shirt today, and against his former club. The veteran Chile midfielder, who spent the 2005/06 season at Inter, made his debut for Fiorentina on 18 August 2012 in a 2-0 Coppa Italia win over Novara. He has since appeared for them 76 times in Serie A, 15 in European matches and eight in the Coppa Italia.
First time in opposite dugouts for former team-mates
Today's game sees Roberto Mancini and Vincenzo Montella pitted against each other as coaches for the first time. The pair did battle on opposite sides in numerous Rome derbies, Mancini as a player (and later coach) for Lazio and l'Aeroplanino a Roma man. They also spent a season together at Sampdoria in 1996/97.
Mancini: one defeat eight against the Viola
Roberto Mancini is facing Fiorentina – where he spent a brief spell in charge from March 2001 to January 2002 – for the ninth time in his coaching career, having previously won six, drawn one and lost one. His teams have always scored against the Viola (16 total) and have triumphed in all four home fixtures.
Montella behind on points but knows how to score against Inter
Vincenzo Montella comes into this game with a record of W3, D2, L4 against the Nerazzurri as a coach, and W4, D6, L9 during his playing career. He did, however, hit more goals against Inter than against any other side: 12, the same number as he managed against Fiorentina.
